As much asd that river is literally raped in sure those natives were on their 3rd or 4th trip bankside with a bead rig in their face. Leave them in the water dumbshit. Thanks for contributing to the mortality of a depleting resource and making nymphers look like mongloids once again

Bye PT. Thanks for playing...... Those who have been paying attention could have scripted the responses so far, hence Plecoptera's and Jerry's responses #1 and #2. Bead vs. swinging - who give a crap. But Patrick made two mistakes. It appears that some of the steelhead that he and Norm caught were wild fish (at least with an intact adipose fin, but photographic evidence can be deceiving) and that their connection to the aqueous environment was tenuous at best in some of the photos. If this were true, then there may be a violation of Sparkey's Law: "Though shalt not lift wild steelhead (or many other salmonids that have lived part of their lives in the ocean) entirely out of the water unless it is legal to do so and you plan to hit them over the head with a stick." [I'm a rock fan myself.] More importantly, if you were to lift one of these precious jewels from the water for a brief photo, it would seem to be injudicious to post photos on the web where hundreds, yeah thousands, of eyeballs may observe them and comment on potential lawbreaking. I suggest that the outraged rush to Patrick's house and place him under citizens arrest for his apparently heinous deeds. And I suggest that Patrick either cease and desist from lifting wild steelhead from the water, as per the law, or that he be aware enough to not post pictures of them on the web and stir up the hornets.

Steve

P.S. looks like you had a fun trip with a good friend; this last part could have been executed better......

I bet those natives did get schooled by the brats. They generally only get landed once before they meet the inside of the cooler. Those natives have all been recycled I'm willing to bet my box of gay wings. If you can't treat them with the respect those fish deserve then maybe you should stick to hiring guides. And cabezon I don't get your point?

Sean, either Patrick screwed up and was informed of his error in the first few posts (and he won't do it again) or he doesn't care what you think, but I suggested that he should keep those photos of aerial steelhead to himself if only to maintain domestic peace and tranquility on the board.

Great trip friend! I was on the same river with no luck a couple of weeks ago. I was only swinging flies, no indi fishing. Got in a lot of casting practice though....
Don't let the haters get you down. They always find something.

Cabezon, you are an idiot. Those are wild fish, they are being held out of the water, and that is illegal in this state. The only thing that surprises me more than other people on this forum making excuses for them is that the mods would early on say they'll grab some popcorn and watch. Too bad for the double standard.

I'm still waiting for anyone to explain how it's ok in this instance...?

I don't care how they were caught.... shrimp, eggs, fly, etc. The only thing predictable is the response from someone like you. It's ok if we do it.... again, you are making excuses for people who blatantly broke the law and it's ok here. Any other forum and those pics would be down. WDFW actually likes photographic evidence.

Cabezon... crawl back under that rock pile in 80' of water. You'll make good fish n chips next spring.

Those natives have all been recycled I'm willing to bet my box of gay wings. If you can't treat them with the respect those fish deserve then maybe you should stick to hiring guides. And cabezon I don't get your point?

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Exactly. This river gets so much pressure (largely due to reports like this that call it out by name and say "I caught 798749837 fish!"), these wild fish that are piled up in there are getting hit in the heads with dozens of beads, day in and day out, getting caught multiple times no doubt. If you want your hero shot (and I have some from this river too), lift their tail from the net, keep their head in the water, get the shot and let it go.

And for those who think that fly fishermen are the ultimate fish handlers; my gear/bait chucking illiterate redneck cousin refused to even touch any wild steelhead he hooks. He hooked a few on this river this fall, and would unhook them before they would touch the rocks, the net, or his hands. That's more than I can even say for myself.

And props to Sean and PT for saying what should've been said in the first place. It has nothing to do with methods used; they could have been caught on cured roe under a thingamabobber on a spey rod for all I care. We need to hold each other in our fishing community accountable if one of us messes up. I'd expect you all to do the same to me if I did something stupid and posted about it on the interwebs.

In a state where the fish are endangered. One should take better care of those fish. If your hands are dry,they will take fish scum off of the fish when handled. That scum is needed for their protection against diseases.

I thought that when one goes fishing in Washington State that one would read the regs as to where one is fishing at. Those regs are out there to protect the fish and to help you not get into trouble.